Only War R1: Stand and Deliver
by AriLily
Summary: A tense peace between the superpowers of the world, the Chinese Federation, European Union and Holy Britannian Empire, has shaped the political and social landscape of the three powers. However, such peace cannot last and war is once more on the horizon. For the independent nation of Gallia, it is a struggle to remain independent in the war between superpowers. (AU/OCs)
1. Chapter I: The Beginning

_The year is 2038 of the imperial calendar, and the borders of the world have been redrawn. In the west, across the no-man's land known as the Atlantic Ocean, lies the beating heart of the Holy Britannian Empire. Since the death of its ninety-eighth emperor at the hands of the usurper, the empire has begun its rapid expansion into foreign territory. There is no peace in a world at war._

 _Across the sea, the European Union is under siege from all sides. The west holds its age-old nemesis Britannia, to the south the perpetually warring African Hegemony, and the east the Chinese Federation with its antiquated ways and the north holds the wintry abode of the empire of the tsars of Russia._

 _Though many years have passed since the fall of Area Eleven and the assassination of Charles zi Britannia, there are yet those within and without Britannia that still defy the infamous child-emperor of Britannia._

 _However, the tides of war do not wait and the stage has changed from the island nation of Japan to a small kingdom nestled between the EU and Russian border. Gallia, a small nation, has long successfully done what Japan could not and used its bountiful stores of Sakuradite to its advantage. Though many have tried in the past, none have successfully conquered the small nation._

 _With the advent of the new arms race and Japan's occupation, many turn to Gallia as a source for the precious mineral. Some, however, would see this as a chance to invade. On the eighteenth of April in the year 2038, Russian forces breached the citadel at the northern border and waged lightning warfare, driving the Gallian army back towards the capital at Randgriz._

 _It is in this tale that we see a small nation best a military giant, a tale of camaraderie and friendship, of life and death, and love blossoming amidst the flames of war._

I.E Koller, On the Gallian Front, United Nation Press 2060

* * *

"The more things change, the more they stay the same." William Gottwald mused, staring out a window in his classroom. True, he had once nurtured dreams of rebellion against his father's empire, but fate was often a strange mistress. He had not once in his many years since his flight from Japan thought that he'd end up a school teacher.

Now there was an irony if he'd ever heard one, he chuckled, thinking back to his life as Zero in a time long ago with his second-in-command Kaname Ohgi. Maybe there was something about him, but he'd never had the chance to meet the man in person, though he'd heard the man had become quite the successful teacher to foreign students at the university.

"Mitchel, which battle was the decisive loss that drove the British from their home isles?" William, or rather Lelouch asked, rather good-naturedly. Juniper, of course, had been correct in assuming teaching children the folly of war would be good for him.

"The Humiliation, sir." The boy responded.

William mused, though his inner Lelouch winced at the return of a sore spot for many Britannians. "True, the Humiliation of Edinburgh sealed the defeat of the nation that would become Britannia, but what is the event and the battle that changed the course of history."

There he was, Lelouch mused. Suzaku's son, how Chihiro had taken her first pregnancy was still a point of amusement to him. A bright boy, William admitted, but he was nowhere close to being a suitable match for his daughter. There he went again, he chuckled. "Yes, Kururugi?"

"The assassination of Admiral Nelson and the defeat of the British navy at the battle of Trafalgar." Masahiro said. "With the loss of their premiere naval commander, the British defense could not hold against Napoleon's attack, even with their numbers. They'd become too reliant on him to have had any plans in place should he die."

"Damn Brits were stupid to think they didn't need replacements." One of the boys, one Lelouch himself disliked considering his repeated failed attempts to court his daughter, and because he himself was a rather dislikable fellow.

"Not how I would have phrased it, but yes." Lelouch replied. "Admiral Nelson's position as the only person with both charisma and political clout made him a valuable and irreplaceable asset. His second-in-command, Admiral Jacob Hackett, was groomed for the task but was ultimately unsuccessful in holding the line." William replied easily enough.

Before he could continue into the explanation of the effects of the battle, the class breathed a sigh of relief when the bell rang, heralding the end of another history lesson. "Enjoy your weekend but I want two pages on the Battle of Trafalgar and the role Nelson and Hackett played. Research on the French commanders and their roles in the battle. My office is open for the rest of the day and you may inquire at the usual email address."

To himself, Lelouch knew that the future still held great strife, he had destroyed the Sword of Akasha but with VV still in control of the empire and he himself relegated to a position on the sidelines, he knew that too many things were still unknown to make a move.

Taken from his musing by his cellphone ringing, Lelouch flipped it up and frowned at the sight of Leila Malkal's name. It had been years since he'd last heard from her and even then, Lelouch thought, they weren't the most pleasant of circumstances. "Miss Malkal, I'd say it's been too long, but it could be longer before I'd like to talk to you again."

"Mister Gottwald, it's been awhile." Leila replied.

"Four years, three months. If you're keeping track." Lelouch grit out.

"If you're referring to the incident involving Erika Kingsly, I've told you already that it was out of my hands." Lelia spoke carefully.

"So her family is given an empty casket to bury? I apologize, Miss Malkal, but don't insult me. We both know that Erika Kingsly was many things, but a spy for Britannia wasn't one of them and she most certainly didn't die . . . what was your cover story for that one?" William spoke coldly. "Ah, yes. Aiding refugees and preventing a terrorist attack."

He could practically hear her muttering. "That's all I've been given on the matter. I'm calling for another matter, about your daughter."

"Why? So you can turn her into one of your super-soldiers or spies? Miss Malkal, the only reason I bother answering your calls is because our parents were once good business partners. If I find out that you've taken any steps to entering her into your Legion program, yes miss Malkal, I do in fact have my ways of knowing. If anything happens to her, you can be assured that nobody will be able to find the bodies."

"I don't take threats lightly, Gottwald." Leila cautioned.

"Good. It's not a threat. It's a promise. We've given enough for your petty games. I couldn't care less who is reelected or what the politicians think of me. My days as a commander are behind me. Good day." Lelouch said, hanging up.

Sighing, Lelouch shook his head. "Is this really what Celtica feels? Detachment with the knowledge that we'll live no matter what?" The wind's lonely howl his reply, Lelouch started his walk out of the school, he'd had enough of ghosts for one day.

* * *

"William, you're home." Juniper greeted, smiling from where she was lounging on a reclining chair, rubbing the swell of her belly. "James and Suzaku should be over for dinner today," she reminded as Lelouch loosened the tie around his neck.

"Excellent, and how are the twins doing?" Lelouch asked.

"Lawrence has been working with Cecile on her project with . . . hyper something. Cyrus has been with Suzaku all day, maybe knightmare training, maybe spending time with Hitomi." Juniper informed, gazing at the sunset. Maybe it was weird, but Lelouch insisted on finding a spot in London, as ironic as it was that former Britannian royalty were allowed to stay within their old seat of power . . . hold up.

"What would Cyrus need to speak with Hitomi with?" Lelouch asked.

Sighing, Juniper shook her head. "For someone who claims to be an expert in wooing the fairer sex, you're quite oblivious when it comes to your family."

"He's too young to be thinking about such things." Lelouch replied.

Juniper let out a laugh at that notion. "The pot calls the kettle black, he wasn't much older than I was when we married."

Lelouch shook his head. "A different time, a different providence." Lelouch dismissed the statement, not mentioning the by-now-normal situation about being married to his half-sister.

"Don't go philosophical on me now. A non-thesaurus husband was getting exciting." Juniper quipped.

"Flirting now?" Lelouch raised an eyebrow, leaning in to peck his wife on the cheek.

"Eww, gross."

"Monica Alice Gottwald, you get down from there this instant!" Juniper ordered in her best royalty tone, the dark-haired eight-year old quickly clambering down from the beam she was hanging from.

Lelouch chuckled, "how's my little knight?" he asked, picking her up from the ledge she was perched on. "Not bothering the good princess now, are we?"

Squealing in anger-turned-embarrassment, Monica squirmed. "Dad! Let go!"

Depositing the child in a chair, Lelouch entered the home and deposited his coat and suitcase near the door. "I'll only be a minute." He called.

Stepping into the shower, Lelouch found himself reminiscing, as he often did without stimulation. He wondered why he was allowed to love. Not that disappearing into nothingness after all humanity became a single consciousness was better to him. He'd changed fate, remade history, and the world already seemed such an alien place, where his knowledge was worthless.

Did anything he do really mean anything? Britannia and the world was still at war, discrimination was still rampant, and all the evils of the world were still as they were. But never would Lelouch regret his wish, would never forget his mistakes. He'd paid. Dearly.

His thoughts drifted back, to all the innocents that ended up dead because of his own pride and arrogance. Was his indifference any better? He was immortal, he would survive whatever holocaust came, would survive until the universe was nothing but an empty husk. Nothing mattered.

Another sigh, Lelouch simply turned off the water. There was nothing he could do to change, always stuck in his rut of control and power. There had to be a solution, but for the life of him, he couldn't find out what it was.

* * *

Dinner events at the Gottwald residence was a simple affair. While it was never said the Gottwald family was poor, the simplest house at the end of a rather lonely road in the middle of the countryside, Lelouch was not one to flaunt wealth. It was the simple things, and rather surprisingly was his wife's agreement.

Naoto's family was first to arrive, the veritable litter of redheads pouring from the van that parked in the driveway. Lelouch still couldn't wrap his head around it, fifteen years Naoto and Marika had been married, something that Lelouch didn't see happening, and six children were the end result.

"They breed like rabbits." Lelouch sighed as the six Stadtfeldt children ran into the house. "You've been busy." Lelouch remarked, earning a glare from Marika and a smack on the shoulder from Naoto.

"You're one to talk." Naoto replied.

"Three, the twins count as one incident."

Marika scoffed as Naoto put a hand around her waist. "He's just jealous."

Shaking her head, Juniper raised an eyebrow. "I have trouble just keeping these three in line, and my baby Thalia is still abroad for her studies."

"She'll be fine, what's the worst that could happen?" Lelouch commented.

Laughing, Naoto grinned. "You've just jinxed it, my friend."

The sound of another car pulling up was enough to distract the gathered people as Suzaku opened the door. "Hey everyone, hope we aren't late . . . Naoto, you really have been busy."

"Alright, enough with the comments already." Naoto grumbled.

Dinner proceeded with a healthy amount of energy, a bit more towards the younger generation as the elders chatted about their lives since their exodus from Japan. "Can't believe it's really been twenty years, guess it just hasn't sunk in yet." Naoto grunted.

"We're old." Lelouch agreed. "How's Kallen been? She didn't show up for dinner."

Naoto shook his head. "She's been fine, getting along well with Weinberg."

"Gino? Last I heard the two couldn't stand each other, what changed?" A pointed glare earned a sheepish look from Lelouch. "Ah, I see. Circumstances."

"Semantics." Marika argued. "Why did you really call us here? There's been no new leads on the Organization, no build-up to war, we're at peace." She sighed.

"Really?" Suzaku asked. "Are we at peace?"

Lelouch shook his head, he really missed the bickering and conversation with these people. "Britannia is still in power, the EU is full of corrupt bigots, the Federation's making a lot of noise and the Russians are stirring up a commotion along the EU-Gallia border." Lelouch offered.

"Gallia. Your daughter's studying there, isn't she?" Chihiro asked.

"Supposed to be really good universities there." Juniper said. "But yes, my baby's there."

Lelouch put an arm around his wife's shoulders. "It'll be alright, June. She's a big girl, she can take care of herself."

At that moment, the television's broadcast, which was a cartoon that the younger children were watching, changed. Much to the annoyance of the kids, but the horror of the parents, it was a news report with the words 'Russian Imperial Army Invades Gallia' as headline. "Fuck." Lelouch put succinctly.

"Fuck indeed." Naoto remarked.

* * *

Thalia Gottwald climbed out of the tactical simulator with a smirk on her face. Her opponent, one of Gallia's aristocracy, looking decidedly angry at having lost to both a commoner and a girl. "Same time next week?" Thalia asked sweetly.

"Fuck you, Britannian bitch." The boy snarked.

Randgriz Royal University, while having a good track-record for graduating classes, was also home to some of the most backwards-thinking, bigoted people in the world. Speaking of which, a round, portly man with a hideous moustache by Thalia's standards, waddled up to them. "What's going on here?" he asked.

"General Damon." Thalia saluted. Another fine point, Thalia groused, was that all private and public schools maintained a military education. Commissioned officers in general were considered higher authorities than civilian teachers and there were no female officers in the regular army as far as Thalia recalled.

"Oh, it's just the Britannian." Damon grumbled in his chain-smoker voice. Though it could easily just be the extra fat around his throat causing all that distortion, Thalia smirked to herself. "Well, what's wrong, spit it out."

"She cheated, sir!" the boy replied.

"This is an exam, isn't it? Well, Britannian? What do you have to say for yourself?"

"I didn't cheat, sir." Thalia answered evenly.

"Bullshit. Everyone knows Britannians win by cheating." The boy said.

Sighing, Thalia looked to the general. "Permission to speak freely to my colleague, sir?"

"Hold your tongue, Brit." The general snapped. "So, you think you can cheat your way through an exam, do you?"

"Sir, all due respect, there's no way to cheat the system without clearance access from a higher authority." Thalia answered.

"Then is lieutenant Summers lying?" Damon asked.

Thalia sighed inwardly, loaded questions. Loaded questions everywhere. "General. I have a suggestion." A soft voice spoke.

Paling, the general turned, forcing Thalia to her knees as he did so, and bowed. "Princess Cordelia, of course you may suggest whatever is on your mind." Ass kisser, Thalia smirked.

"Let miss Gottwald and lord Summers retake the exam and oversee it yourself." Cordelia remarked.

"B-but she cheated." Summers protested weakly.

"Then you have nothing to fear." Cordelia replied evenly. "You may begin."

Stepping into the sphere, Thalia released a pent up breath. "You can do this," she said to herself.

An automated voice spoke. "I will explain the mission." It said, a three-dimensional rendition of a city appeared on-screen. "Your forces have been tasked to secure a bridgehead, though your forces have been reduced to a single knightmare and conventional infantry. Your opponent's task is to maintain the bridgehead for the allotted time and you are to capture the facility and eliminate as many opposing units as possible."

"Damon." She grumbled, of course he'd choose her to be on the attacking side with every disadvantage.

A brief aerial view of the battlefield registered several things, Summers was given first chance to deploy, and Thalia had seen everything. "Perfect. Damon's even given him extra troops, this might be a challenge." She said, selecting her unit's composition.

"Alright," she said, deactivating her squad's IFF function.

"Gottwald, what are you doing?" Damon's voice over the intercom barked.

"Disguising my squad so they cannot be tracked by enemy electronic surveillance."

"Carry on." Damon grumbled.

Of course she turned off her IFF, Damon's console only saw IFF signatures to begin with. Like clockwork, Summers's IFFs lit up the top half of the screen. "Deploying to capture the bridgehead. Beginning operation." She announced.

A fun fact about this machine, Thalia helped write nearly half of the combat scenarios since nobody had batted an eye at the EU-made tactical training device as she set her snipers to ignite the Sakuradite tanks across the field. She just about heard Summers's panicking from across the field as she directed her troops across the rubble, taking out infantry and knightmares as she went, her own Knightmare providing suppressing fire as they stormed out of her deployment zone.

Coming to the first hurdle, a large bridge, a massive Bamides blocked the way. "So much for faithful rendition." She muttered, sending men under the bridge to have the massive knockoff Knightmare plummet into the river-abyss below.

"That's cheating, Gottwald!" Damon roared.

"It's called using the field to my advantage, sir. You gave us the lecture on it last week." Thalia responded.

"Don't play coy with me."

Another eight signatures appeared as a full platoon of soldiers appeared, armed with machine guns. "Of course, sir." Thalia said, deploying her Knightmare to block the small-arms as its weapon scythed through the defenders with little effort.

Like a chess match, her Knightmare raced about, scything down the disoriented Sutherlands as her infantry reached the bridgehead. With a theatrical bow, the exam scores appeared once more at a perfect A rank as she disembarked from the capsule, giving a theatrical bow to the dumbstruck general and her 'opponent' before turning to the princess with another bow and departing the room.

* * *

Hello boys and girls,

I'm baaaaaaaack! Sorry this has taken a long time, ended up replaying the game that's partially the inspiration for this installment (Though for the sake of publicity it will be published here on the main CG page rather than the crossover section) and watching the anime and movies again with a little more research on the spinoffs for any relevant additions. If you're reading this and are confused on what's happening, you're on the wrong fic, check my profile for Fate Reforged before you get onto this fic.

After a lot of debating and a lot more tweaking, Stand and Deliver is finally up and ready to be written. We're mainly going to focus on the mis/adventures of our new protagonist, Thalia Gottwald, who if it isn't obvious already is Lelouch and Juniper's kid. Other characters will be appearing, especially those that didn't get enough screen time during R0, but that'll be saved for the portions of the fic not devoted to Thalia.

As to where this story is going, it should mainly follow the Valkyria Chronicles storyline with hints of what R2 will be about and portions of the time between R0 and R1. Timeskip is around twenty years, so some of the conversations will be catch-ups and flashbacks to get you all up to speed on what's been going on in my head.

Anyway, review and follow the story, I'm always happy to answer questions you guys and girls might have.

Stand and Deliver,

Arilia


	2. Chapter II: Its Name is Dantalion

_I had the pleasure of knowing the famed General Belgen Archibald Gunther during his time at the academy. He was always the stern, unrelenting man even during basic and officer training. That man had an eye for tactics, showed up everyone in the class from foreign students to Howard Damon. I never did peg him for a military man when we were children though, always running around the woods in search of some rare animal or insect, or otherwise annoying his future wife Marie._

 _Belgen's death was a great loss, and the fact that Damon replaced him sort of sealed the regular army's decline into complacency. In the end, I suppose it doesn't matter what I think. I never did finish my old rivalry with him, just like the man to up and let illness stop him so we wouldn't ever settle the score._

 _We ended up on opposing sides of the war, a young captain fresh out of West Point and a lieutenant out of the Royal University. I remember that day at Naggiar. We had every advantage, but that damned blue and silver flag showed up on our flank, crushed our formation and turned our victory into an absolute rout._

 _Got him back a few months later, broke his squad during the siege of Paris, forced their retreat. Ever since then, we've consistently found ourselves on opposing positions during the first great war. I can honestly say I'll miss the man, the world's poorer without minds like his._

Interview with Andreas Darlton, On the Gallian Front, 2060

* * *

"You know, you really should stop goading Michael," Faldio chided, "His dad's got enough political clout to get you expelled or deported." Thalia glanced to where the brown-haired boy was lazily leaning against her.

Simmering after her latest run-in with the self-proclaimed god's gift to humanity, Michael Summers, Thalia was sitting under the shade of a particularly shady oak on the university's grounds. "Try both. He actually expects me to go out with him just because he's a duke's son. Doesn't make him any less of a strutting peacock."

"Don't compare him to a peacock." Welkin pleaded. "Peacocks are magnificent creatures, but it's not like he has any competition so it isn't a good analogy."

"Are you saying I'm not worth competing over?" Thalia asked sweetly.

"Huh? No. I'm just saying that he's just making a fool of himself. You aren't one to get starry-eyed at nobility." Welkin amended, putting his hands up in a placating gesture.

Faldio laughed. "Considering who her parents are, it isn't really surprising. Year and a half and I still can't believe that someone like you is royalty."

"Former. It's not like that little hobgoblin wanted to keep any of the old family around." Thalia replied, glaring at him now. "I'm not taking that from the earl's son that likes scrounging about for dirty chips of pottery."

Both young men laughed at her comment. There really was no loving the diminutive emperor, considering his policies of discrimination were reaching an all-time high, there was little surprise that nobody favored the current emperor's rule.

"Which reminds me, you're returning home to Bruhl next week, aren't you?" Faldio asked, breaking their comfortable silence. "I'm heading to Barious to start on my dissertation, where will you be going for your research, Thalia?"

Looking thoughtful, Thalia shrugged. "Truth is, I can do my research anywhere, but I'm interested in seeing the sights of Gallia. I haven't actually left the capital except to go to the airport and that fieldtrip we had to Kloden last month. I'd like to see Bruhl's famous windmill though."

"It's settled then, we can take the first train on Monday and be at my place by around lunchtime."

"Propositioning already? Didn't you already have that sweetheart of yours, also happens to be from Bruhl." Thalia remarked dryly. "I don't mind though, waking up early isn't really much trouble."

"Oh right, that baker's girl. Alice, wasn't it?" Faldio asked.

"Alicia, but I haven't seen her in years. She's probably forgotten all about me by now." Welkin shrugged.

First to rise, Thalia brushed the grass from her skirt. "I'm going to go get lunch, either of you gentlemen want to escort me?" Thalia pulled her bag from the ground and dusted it off as well. "Which reminds me, Gunther, you still owe me for helping you with that history project of yours."

Welkin boosted himself up and followed. "Yeah, but I thought that favor was for schoolwork, not food money."

"Didn't ask for terms, you can't complain." Thalia replied in a sing-song tone. "There's that new pasta place along Castle street I wanted to try."

"It's a date then." Welkin remarked, causing Thalia to smirk, though a light dusting of red covered her cheeks.

"Better you than the peacock." Thalia agreed, dragging Welkin along as Faldio watched them leave.

"Hey, what did we just talk about?"

"You invited me for lunch, that's a date. Now you are competition, isn't that fabulous." Thalia said, grinning.

Welkin shook his head. "You were the one who called in the favor."

"Details."

As the two conversed back-and-forth, Faldio shook his head and turned to return to his own quarters. There was still his trip to the ruins to plan. Life was good.

* * *

Thalia was taking pictures of the town as Welkin sketched nearby. "Don't you have to return home? I'm sure Isara is worried about you." Thalia remarked, checking the image before continuing. Inwardly, she thought that someone would inevitably react the wrong way, with her father's warning that the Russians were close to invading and declaring war on Gallia.

"But it's so early for the trout to be here, it's remarkable." Welkin protested, continuing his sketch.

"Is she really going to forgive you for being late because you were sketching trouts?"

Looking thoughtful for a moment, Welkin nodded. "She's always been a very forgiving person."

Groaning, Thalia shook her head and went back to taking pictures of the surroundings before she noticed the three men with rifles heading their way. "Uhh, Welkin, I think we have company." She cautioned, nudging the young nature lover to facing the men with the uniform of the town's militia. "Can we help you, officers?" she asked.

Holding up a hand, one of the men stepped forward, motioning the other two to stand ready. "You are both suspected of being spies, come quietly or we will be forced to fire." He said, the two behind him shouldering their rifles.

"Fuck." Thalia grumbled, glaring at Welkin. "Sir, I can assure you there's a very good explanation for our presence and actions. Hey, idiot, mind helping me out here." However, upon glancing, Welkin was still sketching. This man may have the highest grades in our year, but he's really a complete and utter idiot, she groaned.

"I'm sure it will have been a very well-rehearsed story." Welkin said thoughtfully. "If we were spies I mean, we'd have cover stories."

"You. Are. Not. Helping." Thalia groused as the guards approached.

The lead guard slung his rifle over his shoulder. "Hand over your camera and bag. We can discuss this at the station."

"Thanks a lot, fish." Thalia sighed.

One of the guards hauled Welkin to his feet and took the notebook from him, prompting Welkin to freak out. "Please, the ink isn't dry, you might smudge the sketches." He protested.

Groaning, Thalia put a hand to her head. "Sir, he's too much of an airhead to be a spy, we're on our way to visit his family."

"There's only one house at the end of the road, and there's no way he's family." One of the guards said. "Besides, if you had family waiting, you wouldn't be around sketching."

"That's what I've been trying to tell him." Thalia turned to Welkin, who appeared to be quite thoughtful at the trees. "Welkin! Hey! We're about to be arrested here. Do something."

Welkin shrugged. "They aren't going to believe a word either of us say."

"It's your fault you wanted to stop by and sketch the fish."

"Both of you, shut up." The lead militiaman said.

In silence, they trudged down the road until they arrived at a rather old house with the Gallian flag raised above in the courtyard, the massive mill spinning lazily in the breeze. "Not how I imagined seeing the mill up close."

* * *

A rather cramped room had become their temporary cell, hands bound behind their chairs. "A little inappropriate don't you think?" Thalia quipped. The older man's replacement, a boy probably no older than fifteen, flushed as Thalia struggled, the motion drawing attention to her chest.

Inwardly, Thalia had to sigh, all men were predictable. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Welkin shake his head in something between disappointment and amusement, also having been the subject of Thalia's 'charm'.

"Err, no. Well, we're supposed to keep you in this room." The boy said hesitantly, his eyes never leaving her chest.

"What's your name?" Thalia asked.

"O-Os~"  
"Oscar! What are you doing here?" one of the older militia was shouting, snapping the boy from his daze.

Spinning so fast, Thalia swore she saw an afterimage, the boy tripped on his own feet, still babbling incoherently. "Give the kid a break," Thalia said in mock disappointment at her source of entertainment's removal.

"You, shut up." The militiaman barked. "You. Come with us." He said, nodding to Welkin.

"Exactly what am I going to do with you?" Alicia huffed, the brunette fussing over Welkin as she untied his arms. "No calls, no letters, no nothing for two years while you're off at university and the first thing I have to do is pull your ass out of a cell?"

Welkin, looking properly apologetic, was rubbing the back of his head from where his best friend had smacked him with his journal. "Sorry, it's just, the trout were early this year."

Raising an eyebrow, Alicia sighed. "Well, regardless. It's nice to see you again." Shaking her head, she punched him in the shoulder, "that's for making me worry," tiptoeing and pecking him on the lips. "That's for making me worry, you stupid fool."

Looking thoroughly shocked, Welkin momentarily lost all sense of urgency and stood there. "I don't suppose you were expecting that," she said sheepishly.

"Not one bit." Welkin agreed.

Given the fact that most of the town had been evacuated, nobody else noticed the two's brief show of affection. At least until a shrill whistle startled the pair into watching a figure clamber down the second floor of a building. "Nice going, nature boy."

"Thalia? I thought they left you at the base?" Welkin remarked, surprised.

Glaring at him, the shortest of the three huffed, cocking her hip. "Yeah, thanks for that by the way. This pretty thing must be Alicia. Welkin's said quite a bit about you."

Blushing, the woman spun and jabbed a finger at Welkin. "I thought you said that there wasn't anyone in your life!" she accused.

"Nah, she's just a friend." Welkin promised, seeing Thalia's knowing smirk.

"As much fun as he is to be around and tease, he's too weird for my tastes." Thalia promised.

"Tell me about it." Alicia agreed. "Wait, how did you get here?"

Chuckling, Thalia struck a pose. "Distracted that boy. Oscar, was it?" Thalia mimed some pretty suggestive poses that left Welkin gaping and Alicia blushing deeper. "Lured him in, he lowered his guard, and I took the keys." She explained.

The road soon turned and the trio continued in a comfortable silence. "It's hard to believe with all the modernization going on, there's still places like Bruhl that still exists. It's nice," Thalia admitted, "the air's clean and crisp, and the loudest sound isn't construction or advertisments."

As if on cue, an explosion shattered the amicable silence and Thalia quickly tackled Alicia and Welkin to the ground. "That was explosive ordinance, then that means . . ."

"The invasion's starting. Damn, I thought we had more time." Alicia cursed, fumbling for her pistol as Thalia withdrew her own. Checking her clip, the two girls crouched low as the sound of boots and the rumble of vehicles passed them by.

"How far to the house?" Thalia asked.

Thinking for a moment, Welkin grimaced. "Maybe ten minutes if we weren't under fire. Now, we'd be lucky to get there at all."

Looking to Alicia, Thalia peeked over the low bush. "Three, no, five foot soldiers and a light tank. Must be a recon team. Old-fashioned visors and grey to khaki uniforms, it's the Russian infantry, no doubt about it."

"Think we could take them?" Alicia queried, peering over to where the open-topped vehicle was sweeping its mounted gun over the landscape. "Apart from the vehicle, their infantry's infamous for being poorly trained.

"I'd chalk that up to misinformation." Welkin said, finally pulling out his own pistol. "Underestimated enemies are just as dangerous as well-trained enemies."

Thalia smiled. "Send me a bumper sticker," however that smile quickly turned into a frown as her phone began to receive the telltale signs of jamming before quickly shutting itself off without so much as the zero-battery screen. "They've got a jamming system on the jeep, guaranteed gefjun disturber."

Frowning, Welkin shook his head. "A lot of Gallian weapons have Sakuradite in them, only the older tanks and guns from the first war still use propellant. We don't have any way of fighting the Russians until we neutralize the disturber."

Visibly pale, Alicia checked her own pistol, a newer model distributed only recently to Gallia's various militia divisions. True to Welkin and Thalia's observations, the trigger had stuck and the light and sensors were off, indicating the weapon's use as a bludgeoning tool and not a ranged weapon. "Well, that's just great, is that their plan?"

"Park one next to a power plant, it shuts down electricity. Put it onto a vehicle, it creates a dead zone around it that causes anything from scanners and guns to knightmares and airships to shut down. It's brought everything full circle, rendered Sakuradite useless for combat purposes. Sad really," Thalia said.

"They're moving towards the town," Welkin pointed out. "We need to keep going, your militia is going to have to hold them off."

Torn between her friends and her duty, Alicia pulled Welkin into another kiss. "Then you'd better hurry back to me and the town. Get Is and Al then help us stop that stupid tank, we're . . . I'm counting on you," she said quietly, turning to run back down the path.

"What now Welkin?" Thalia asked her friend who was still watching as Alicia disappeared around the corner.

"We'd better hurry."

* * *

Humming a tune as she lay on her back inspecting several components of her father and his good friend's work, Isara Gunther found that her brother was late, figures. "Still I'll come back to you, to the home within my heart," Isara sang absently, soldering the wiring that had become faulty since she'd last done a checkup on its legs. "Alex, could you hand me the magnification visor and the micro-tools."

"Sure thing," came the reply as tools were placed in her outstretched hand. "Why are you still working on that old thing?"

"It's the last thing our fathers built together, I'd like to have something to do, since school's out for the . . . for the war and everything." Isara admitted. "Besides, you know how I get around technology."

"Gearhead," came the teasing tone.

"Lazy bum," Isara remarked, donning the visor and returning to her prone position under the tarp. The sound of footsteps roused her from her oil and grease induced trance and she heard the harsh barking of Russian as she retrieved an old revolver from a shelf.

Unbeknownst to her, the jamming device didn't work on such an old weapon, the soldier before her laughing and making a show of raising his arms as if to dare her to shoot. A single report of the revolver's large caliber round smashing into the resin helmet sent shards backwards and the gun kicking with its recoil. "Is . . . you killed him."

"He was acting weird." Isara noted, keeping the fact she'd just killed a man at the back of her mind and noted the visor had switched off. "Jammed," she muttered, raising the visor to cover her hair.

That's when the door to the side opened, and an older girl followed a brown-haired boy through. "Isara! What happened?"

"Brother!" Isara exclaimed, about to speak but instead throwing up her breakfast at the knowledge of her act.

"Is!" Welkin and Alex shouted as Thalia pried the revolver from her grasp.

"We need to get out of here," Thalia said. "What were you talking about was here?"

Isara, still looking decidedly pale, aided by Alex and Welkin, pulled the tarp from the mound. "What is it?" Welkin asked.

Isara put a hand to the machine that stood roughly one and a half times taller than a Sutherland, that looked far bulkier than an ordinary knightmare. "Uncle Lloyd explained it to me, the Advanced Systems Group was founded in order to circumvent the lopsided tactical advantage of the gefjun disturber. Using crude nuclear and some advanced physics theories, they created a refined variant of the original arc reactor. This is model zero seven one, code named Dantalion."

"This will work through a gefjun disturber?" Thalia asked. Isara's nod was all Thalia needed. "I have the training to pilot experimental knightmare frames, I can do this."

Welkin nodded. "We'll do a meet-and-greet later. Alex, Is, we'll follow behind Thalia. Clear us a path and we'll get out of here." Welkin said, picking up the dead man's rifle and passing his sidearm to Alex.

Inside the cockpit, Thalia ran the startup sequence and despite their situation, had to marvel at the Dantalion's specs. "Power output normal, reactor cooling at full. Primary weapons online, secondary systems all green. Redirecting all tertiary systems and closing the engine block. Welkin, I need someone to operate the Dantalion's secondary systems. Is it too~"

"I'll do it," Isara volunteered. "I don't really trust you, but if my brother does, then I'll help."

Slipping in behind Thalia, the dark-haired girl booted up the console. "Just like I practiced," Isara muttered to herself as she began pulling system feeds and nodded. "All secondary systems green, locomotive systems enabled, detaching magnetic clamps, fuel cables and sealing the coolant reservoir."

"Alright. Thalia, Is, our objective is to get out of here, destroy the gefjun disturber and rescue the remaining civilians in Bruhl."

"Aye aye, general." Thalia quipped. "All systems green. Dantalion on standby."

Saying a silent prayer, Isara thumbed the activation switches. "Dantalion ready for combat."

The gunmetal grey and black machine rose from its prone position to a crouch. "Isara, ready the low-yield rounds, we're going to blast our way through the blockade. Sensors read enemy armor and a squad. Think we can do this?"

"Of course." Isara said, monitoring the screens as the whine of the railgun charging. "Ready to fire."

"FIRE!"

* * *

Hello,

I am so terribly sorry this took a long while. Mother insisted on visiting the distant relations in the Philippines, map apps are completely useless outside of Manila apparently, it led us through every single side road in existence for what we dubbed the "scenic route". They're remarkably friendly though, the people I mean. Food's great here, but the roads are so confusing.

Listen to me going on about stuff you guys might not care about, ah well, too lazy to edit this little note so I'll just continue. There you guys have it, the beginning of the Gallia-Russia war with the invasion of Bruhl. Sorry this is a bit of a confusing chapter, but it's really just a build up to the battle and the introduction of some other characters. More about them later, but yes Is = Isara and Al = Alex. Fight's kicking off with a bang and Dantalion is ready to roll. Think of Dantalion less of a knightmare and more of a walking tank.

Really sorry, I'm nervous on how this chapter turned out, but the muse refuses to help me fix it so I'll just have to keep going. It's going to be a lot better from here on out, I promise.

Stand and Deliver,

Arilia


End file.
